Metal box rim construction



Get. 2Q, 1953 E. W. RHEMENSCHNEIDER 2,656,036

METAL BOX RIM CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 25. 1949 i mmvme. a EdmundWfizemeizwfimw ATTCWNEYS Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE METAL BOX RIM CONSTRUCTION Edmund W. Riemenschneider, Hartville,Ohio, assignor to The Union Metal Manufacturing Company, Canton, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application November 23, 1949, Serial No. 129,065

3 Claims. 1

The invention relates generally to sheet metal material handling boxes,and more particularly to a beaded rim construction for such boxesadapted to be supported on skids or pallets.

A primary requirement of material handling boxes is that they havemaximum strength for minimum weight because they are subjected to heavyloads and rough handling, but should be light in weight so as to add aslittle as possible to the weight of the material contained therein. Therequirement of minimum weight is especially important in cases where theboxes are shipped via train or truck so as to transport a maximum payload.

Another important requirement is that the boxes be adapted for tieringor stacking in a stable condition, because it is common practice to tierskids or pallets each carrying such a box, for conserving space instorage and transportation.

A further requirement is that such boxes must be simple and inexpensiveto manufacture, so as to add as little as possible to the manufacturingcost, and to handling and shipping costs, of the articles transported inthe boxes.

Material handling boxes of this type are conventionally made of lightgauge sheet metal having corrugations in the side walls for increasingtheir strength, and the most economical way of forming the box is tostart with a corrugated strip and bend it at right angles in dies toform the side walls and corners of the box. The top rim of the box isordinarily formed with a flat bead prior to bending so as to provide afiat top rim to facilitate tiering of the boxes. However, it has been anextremely diificult problem to construct a bead which can be bent orformed at right angles around the corners of the box and still providethe required fiat top rim after bending.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to providea continuous bead construction which can be formed or bentaround theright-angled corners of a sheet metal box and still provide asubstantially fiat top rim suitable for tiering.

In attempting to solve this problem, it was first attempted to formalong the edge of the strip a right-angled flange which consisted of areversely bent or folded-under portion, which was intended to give afiat or horizontal rim around the finished box. However, the excessivestretching of the metal at the outer folded edge of such a folded rimflange, during the bending of the metal around the box corners, causedcracking or breaking of the metal in the folded portion at the corners,and also caused the top wall of the rim 2 to angle or warp up or down atthe corner portion.

Obviously, these difiiculties with cracking and distorting due tostretching of the metal can be overcome by providing a joint at eachcorner in the rim or bead, but such a joint requires an additionalmanufacturing operation, and greatly decreases the strength of the rimas required for tiering purposes.

It was next attempted to provide a rolled circular bead along the edgeof the strip, and this eliminated some of the cracking at the corners,but did not provide a flat top rim for tiering; and also when bentaround the corners this bead was flattened or squeezed laterally to anegg shape which distorted and further narrowed the top of the rim.

Finally, a bead constructed according to the present invention wasinvented and constructed, and when tested was found to overcome thedifficulties experienced with the prior constructions, and to accomplishthe following specific objects.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rim constructionfor a rectangular material handling metal box including a continuousbead having a flat top and extending around the corners on a smallradius.

Another object is to provide an improved continuous bead extendingaround the upper end of a rectangular metal box and bent around thecorners on a small radius without any cracks or breaks in the beadcorner portion.

A further object is to provide a rim construction for a rectangularmetal box comprising a continuous bead having maximum strength with aminimum amount of metal.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rimconstruction for a rectangular metal box consisting of a continuoustriangular bead with a fiat top extending around the corners on a smallradius, the skirt of the bead permitting stretching of the metal in theouter edge of the bead at the corners to maintain a flat top portionaround the corners without excessively straining the metal of the beadat the corner portions.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, elements, beadsand box rim constructions comprising the present invention, a preferredembodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawing and describedin the following specification as exemplifying the best known mode ofcarrying out the invention, the invention being set forth in generalterms in the following general statement, and the scope of the inventionbeing defined in the appended claims.

aeaaoec In general terms, the rim construction comprising the presentinvention may be set forth as including, in a rectangular heet metalbox, a continuous integral rim extending around one end of the box andconsisting of an out-turned flange at right angles to the side walls ofthe box, said flange being turned downwardiy at its outeredge and rm din o. a dow rd ncl ned. k r portion terminating at the side walls of thebox, the out-turned and downwardly inclined flanges, forming with thebox side walls a triangular bead, the out-turned flange forming a flattop rim extending continuously around the eorners of the box on a smallradius, and'the. inclined skirt p ermitting stretching of the me ttherim portion around the corners of the box without subjecting the rimportion to excessive strains causing cracks or breaks therein.

Referring to the drawing forming part here- QL: i 1. 92 a Pr e r d. mb dinen of. .1 vi icn. i sh wn. by w i ampl Eiglure' 1 s a fragmentaryperspective view of a exter r co ner, of: a m t mat r a hand in renamethe m iqre con uo s. n u ar has q str ction. aro nd. ts, uppe e d;

Fis. 2. an mer d; itasmcnta y s ctional view'th'rough the bead and itsadjoining side wal -a ree F s Fig; 3 is a, similar f gmentar sectionalview thr ugh the c rne portion f the head. as. on 1. 1 &3, a 1;, and.

' his, 41. is. a'irasme tary p a eva ona iew. partly section, or the.vcorner portion of the bead.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views ofthe drawing.

The mpr yed r an ula bead is shown, by way of example as a continuoustop rim on a recaneul cor ugate sheet meta sk d box indicated, generallyat It, in Fig. 1. The skid box may ha e cont uo s cor u ti ns extendinga iqk ldfiheside wal s 2, an c rne s. the 9 and, the side walls, may.have in turned, bottom sa s. L3. ri ic f m. be eled. m t L at he cornerswhen the side walls are bent at right eng esrtq each qther- Themetaibox,[dis-adap 0 e. used. a a. mat r al. hand o 1s ndie ono lsk dor platform,d s ne to bera'i'sed' by a, in; truck, b t itwill be. under stood thatthe improved rim construction of the R test. nven i n. h pli o othertangular metai material handling boxes, requirin g a fiat rim aroundtheir upper ends.

As shown in Fig. 4, the corners. l5, of the box are formed on arelatively. small radius so. that the right-angle bends, forming cornersbetween theside walls I; are quitesharp to provide. a maximum of; spacein the corners of thebox for the storage of material. The. radiusof. theiner surface I5 of the, corners maybe approximately one-half inch.Referring toFig. 2, the u e tf im 07f! tlilg .98. Q i FS triangular heawbi s n n uiurned i flange l6 integral with and formed at right anglesto the side, wall I z with the, outer edge. portion of the flange bentat IT downwardly under. said flange and merging into a downwardlyinclined skirt'fiang e la which, preferably treminates at the side wallL2 and substantially engages its outer surface. 'Iihis bead isformedcontinuously along one edge, of the corrugated sheet from which the boxismade, before thesheet is bent atright angles atthe corners I5 to forma rectangular-box, so that the box can be; most economically-made from acorrugatedsheet merely 4 by forming the continuous triangular bead alongone edge and discontinuous in-turned flanges I3 along the other edge,and then bending the strip in complementary V dies to make the cornerbends and form the rectangular box.

If it were attempted to form the triangular bead portion after thecorner bends are made, the corner portions of the bead could not beformed without cracking or breaking the metal in the outer edge of thebead, due to the excessive stretching of metal around the corners whichwould be required, and if the triangular head was fonned with a joint ateach corner, the strength of the head in respect to supporting loads, asin ti ering; a plurality of skids and boxes would be so greatlydiminished as to require expensivereinforcement.

By. making the continuous triangular bead in the cross-sectional shapeshown in Fig. 2, when the corrugated sheet with the bead preformedthereon is bent at the corners I5, the cross-sectionalr shape of; thebead becomes somewhat distorted as shown in Figs, 3 and 4, but the metalat, the outer bend H- does not crack and. the width of flat horizontalsurface provided by the top flange corner portion I6 is substantiallythe same as, in the remainder of the rim portion 1-6. Moreover, thetriangular bead hasbeen found to be at least as strong for the sameamount of metal as a. rolled circular bead.

'Ijhe, stretching of the metal around the outer edge portion of; thehead at the corners is absorbed largely by the skirt flange i=3, whichdue to its downward inclination and its free bottom edge can warp orneck inwardly toward the corner portion l5 of; the side walls asindicated at l;8f. The resultisthat the lower portion ofthe skirthugsthe corner 15 as indicated at H! and the nr etal in the outer edgeportion H of the b ad draw nwardl d. sli h ly d wn r into hesls t Whi ehe-metal bet n h e a l, nd th an e 1 a he ne rn also draws inwardly aslight amount as indicated, at L9. the triangular bead shown in Fig, 2.can. be bent. around, the corners l5 on anv inner; radius of aboutone-half inch, without sub ctin he. metal in the rim to excessivestramscausing, cracking and. warping, of. the to! la eh As} shownin,Fig. a the rnetalin-v the sidewalls LL adjacent to. the. top innercorner portion [9 maybecomeslightly. stretched outwardly of. the cornerto. form shallow concave. portions 20 in thaside wallsbut these concaveportions. are so slight; that, they. do not materially affect. the shapeor strength, of, the box.

In; the foregoing,' description, certain terms have been: usedgfor-brevity, clearness and underbut no. unnecessary limitations. are tov therefrom, beyond the requirements qfgthe orart, because such; wordsare usedlfor despnia i e; 11929 9 f lfii and n d. to be broadlyconstrued.

he; mb d ment 1 m roved qns ructi n. llustr t d, and e cr be ei bywayiexample. and-thescope ofthe present invention.- is not; limited to theexact: detailsof construction.

Havingnow' described the invention, the construction, the-operation anduse-of a preferred embodiment thereof; and theadvantageous new and:usefulresults; obtained thereby; the new and useful methods andconstructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereofobvious 5 tothose skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Rim construction for a rectangular mate rials handling box havingsheet metal side walls integrally bent at right angles to form arelatively sharp corner between adjacent (side wall, including acontinuous, integral, flat-top, rim bead, generally triangular incross-section, at the upper ends of said side walls and sharp corner;said triangular rim including, a top flange portion extending outwardlyfrom and at right angles with respect to each adjacent side wall, a toprim corner flange portion integrally continuous with and connecting saidtop flange portions above the sharp corner between said adjacent sidewalls, each top flange portion being turned downwardly at its outer edgeand then downwardly inwardly as an inclined skirt flange portionterminating at its connected side wall beneath said top flange portion,the top rim corner flange portion being turned downwardly at its outeredge, then downwardly inwardly as an inclined corner portion and thendownwardly along, around and contiguous with the sharp corner betweenadjacent side walls as a skirt corner portion, said inclined and skirtcorner portions being integrally continuous with and connecting saidadjacent inclined side wall skirt flange portions, the metal at theplace of merger between the side walls and the top rim corner flangeportion being displaced slightly inwardly with respect to the sharpcorner, and the side wall metal immediately below said place of mergerbeing displaced slightly outwardly with respect to the sharp corner toform shallow concave portions.

2. Rim construction for a rectangular materials handling box havingsheet metal side walls integrally bent at right angles to form a relatively sharp corner between adjacent side walls having an inner radiusof about one-half inch, including a continuous,. integral, flat-top, rimbead, generally triangular in cross-section, at the upper ends of saidside walls and sharp corner; said triangular rim including, a top flangeportion extending outwardly from and at right angles with respect toeach adjacent side wall, a top rim corner flange portion integrallycontinuous with and connecting said top flange portions above the sharpcorner between said adjacent side walls, each top flange portion beingturned downwardly at its outer edge and then downwardly inwardly as aninclined skirt flange portion, the top rim corner flange portion being iturned downwardly at its outer edge, then downwardly inwardly as aninclined corner portion and then downwardly along, around and contiguouswith the sharp corner between adjacent side walls as a skirt cornerportion, said inclined and skirt corner portions being outwardly concavearound said sharp side wall corner and being integrally continuous withand connecting said adjacent inclined side wall skirt flange portions,the metal at the place of merger between the side walls and the top rimcorner flange portion being displaced slightly inwardly with respect tothe sharp corner, the side wall metal immediately below said place ofmerger being displaced slightly outwardly with respect to the sharpcorner to form shallow concave portions, and the inner zone between theside walls immediately below said place of merger having a larger radiusthan the remainder of the corner portion.

3. Rim construction for a rectangular materials handling box havingsheet metal side walls integrally bent at right angles to form arelatively sharp corner between adjacent side walls having an innerradius of about one-half inch, including a continuous, integral,flat-top, rim bead, generally triangular in cross-section, at the upperends of said side walls and sharp corner; said triangular rim including,a top flange portion extending outwardly from and at right angles withrespect to each adjacent side wall, a top rim corner flange portionintegrally continuous with and connecting said top flange portions abovethe sharp corner between said adjacent side walls, each top flangeportion being turned downwardly at its outer edge and then downwardlyinwardly as an inclined skirt flange portion, the top rim corner flangeportion being turned downwardly at its outer edge, then downwardlyinwardly as an inclined corner portion and then downwardly along, aroundand contiguous with the sharp corner between adjacent side walls as askirt corner portion, said inclined and skirt corner portions beingoutwardly concave around said sharp side wall corner and beingintegrally continuous with and connecting said adjacent inclined sidewall skirt flange portions, and the metal at the place of merger betweenthe side walls and the top rim corner flange portion being displacedslightly inwardly with respect to the sharp corner.

EDMUND W. RIEMENSCHNEIDER.

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